Green Lantern: Rebirth
(story "The Day Before", which originally appeared in Wizard X, 2004) * * * * * * | Origin = | Titles = | Collected = | Creators = Geoff Johns; Ethan Van Sciver | First = Green Lantern: Rebirth #1 | Last = Green Lantern: Rebirth #6 | HistoryText = Green Lantern: Rebirth is a storyline that reintroduces Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to the DC Universe, beginning anew after the disbanding of the Corps in Emerald Twilight. It was written by Geoff Johns with art by Ethan Van Sciver. Synopsis In Sector 3599, Kyle Rayner saves a group of small aliens from being killed by a giant insect. The aliens become clamoring around him, but Kyle doesn't understand their language. Suddenly, his ring translates their language into English, and he learns that they aren't thanking him, they're trying to warn him: "Parallax is coming..." On Earth, Hal Jordan observes an air show, when one of the planes suffers engine failure. He becomes the Spectre and saves the pilot, but the Spectre chastises him, saying that the pilot was sinless and would have been welcomed to Heaven. The Spectre is more concerned with punishing a drunk driver who killed a young child. Hal refuses, saying that he is no murderer, but Hal's Parallax form appears, saying that they are murderers, and the Spectre tells them that vengeance is their mission in the Universe, which the Parallax form notes is filled with fear. A spacecraft suddenly falls out of the sky, crashing near 2 hikers, and inside they find the Green Lantern of Earth, Kyle Rayner, injured and weak, who mumbles “It has a name”, and then collapses near a long green object that appears to be a coffin. A series of strange and disturbing incidents then begins to occur. Jordan, pronouncing judgment on the villain Black Hand, becomes unable to focus clearly, and senses that something is wrong, telling his friend Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow), “None of this should have happened. This isn't me. This isn't who I am.” The shape-shifting Vuldarian physiology of former GL Guy Gardner begins going haywire. Coast City, long destroyed, suddenly reappears to two pilots flying over it, though the only building that is restored is Hal Jordan's old home. Back in Highway Hill, Rayner, semi-conscious, tells the hikers that he has “to show them”. As he passes out, his power ring begins speaking, “Parallax is coming…” When Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Zatanna, The Flash, and John Stewart confront Jordan at Ferris Airfield, where Jordan is reminiscing with his former paramour, Carol Ferris, Jordan insists that he is not responsible for the restored Coast City. Stewart, however, suddenly goes berserk, attacking the other heroes, his ring now intoning, “Parallax is coming.” Meanwhile, at the JLA Watchtower on the Moon, the emergency power ring that Jordan once gave Green Arrow duplicates itself, and places itself on Guy Gardner's finger, restoring him as a Green Lantern. Back at Highway Hill, the extraterrestrial Green Lantern Kilowog appears, and inexplicably attacks Kyle Rayner. However, Ganthet, one of the Guardians of the Universe, appears to stop Kilowog, attempting to protect the coffin, which it is revealed holds the corpse of Hal Jordan. He and Kilowog engage in a fierce battle, and Rayner himself feels something within his ring attempting to take over his will, much as with Stewart and Kilowog. Ganthet teleports Rayner and Jordan's corpse to the Justice League Watchtower on the Moon. Meanwhile, Jordan investigates the appearance of his old apartment building, where he is confronted by the Parallax version of himself, who engages in a battle of wills with the Spirit of Vengeance bonded to Jordan's soul. It is then that the Spectre explains to Jordan the truth about Parallax, while simultaneously on the Moon, Rayner does so to Queen. Rayner explains that he journeyed to the edge of the universe within Sector 3599, and on the tenth planet from the star Pagallus, the inhabitants told him that Parallax was actually a yellow demonic parasitic entity that was born at the beginning of sentience, feeding on fear, creating terror in anything it came into contact with, and causing entire civilizations to destroy themselves out of paranoia. It was this creature that the Guardians of the Universe imprisoned within the Central Power Battery on Oa, using fear's opposite energy, willpower. Rayner explains that there is an emotional electromagnetic spectrum into which the collective willpower of the universe is collected by the Central Power Battery, and that green willpower is the most pure. Parallax had lain dormant for billions of years, his true nature covered up by the Guardians to prevent anyone from trying to free it, and thus, it had eventually come to be referred to as simply “the yellow impurity.” This was the reason why the rings were useless against the color yellow: Parallax weakened its power over the corresponding spectrum, and hence only someone capable of overcoming great fear could master the power ring. The Guardians, therefore, selected only such persons to become Green Lanterns. But at some point in recent history, Parallax was awakened, weak and hungry. It reached out to Jordan through Jordan's own ring when Jordan was at his weakest, spending years influencing him, causing him increasing self-doubt and fear, even causing his hair to turn white at the temples. Parallax's control over Jordan exploded with Jordan's grief over the destruction of Coast City, and it was Parallax who was responsible for Jordan's subsequent murderous activity. When Jordan destroyed the Central Power Battery, he unknowingly freed Parallax, which grafted itself onto Jordan's soul, and suppressed Ganthet's memories of the parasite. It was because Parallax was now free that Kyle Rayner's own ring did not have any weakness against yellow, and following Jordan's sacrifice of his own life during The Final Night (a momentary glimpse of Jordan's true heroic soul shining through Parallax's influence), the Spirit of Vengeance drew in Jordan's soul, as it explains to Jordan, in order to eradicate the parasitic Parallax from it. Green Arrow and Rayner are then attacked by Sinestro, apparently very much alive, who explains that it was he who used his Qwardian yellow power ring to tap into Parallax's power and awakened it, and that the Sinestro whom Jordan killed was an illusory construct of Parallax's, created so that his murder would serve as the final stage of Jordan's susceptibility to the impurity in order to break his will. The Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, and the Teen Titans arrive in Coast City to attack Parallax, but the entity inhibits their efforts by causing them to feel fear. The Spirit of Vengeance, however, manages to overpower Parallax, and finally removes the parasite from Jordan's soul. Needing a soul to inhabit, Parallax attacks Ganthet, while Jordan's soul is pulled toward the light of the afterlife. Ganthet manages to guide Jordan's soul back to his corporeal body on the Moon. His soul and thoughts clear for the first time in a long time, Jordan emerges from the coffin resurrected as a mortal human again, once again taking his place as a Green Lantern, the white portions of his hair even restored to their original brown. He and Sinestro engage in a fierce battle on the Moon, and across entire star systems. Eventually, Jordan forces the renegade back into the antimatter universe to which he was first banished. Jordan and Rayner then journey to Coast City, where they, along with John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Kilowog, free Ganthet from Parallax's possession, and imprison the parasite back in the Central Power Battery on Oa. The Guardians then announce that "it is time," referring to the rebuilding of the Green Lantern Corps. After the battle, Batman isn't entirely convinced that all this time Hal wasn't responsible for his actions as Parallax, but nevertheless decided that the universe "needs a a little more light anyway" thus acknowledges that Jordan is back. Hal reestablishes his relationships with Carol Ferris, who decide to reopen the Ferris Airfield, and Oliver Queen, who offers to let him stay in his home until he's back on his feet. With this new beginning, Hal, for the first time since the Coast City's destruction, finally found the courage and the peace of mind to move on and rebuild his life. Elsewhere, on Belle Reve prison, Hector Hammond senses Jordan's resurrection, and is delighted and awaiting the opportunity to engage with his foe once more. At Star City, Oliver Queen is healing well, but notes that his aim is off by a few millimeters. He has something else of Hal's, saying he got it from his locker after Parallax emerged—his old Power Battery. Ollie notes that he could never remember the Green Lantern oath, but Hal notes that he will never forget it, and charges his ring. | Vehicles = | Items = *Green Lantern Power Battery *Central Power Battery of Oa | Weapons = Green Lantern Rings | Notes = * Before this story there was a popular fan theory that the reason Hal went crazy was he was wearing Lord Malvolio's ring. Also Kyle was wearing a reforged version of this ring when he unknowingly created Oblivion. | Trivia = | Recommended Reading = * Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight * Green Lantern Corps: Recharge * The Sinestro Corps War * Green Lantern: Blackest Night | Links = * "Green Lantern: Rebirth" at Wikipedia * Geoff Johns on the return of Hal Jordan at ComicBookResources }}